Words from Grace
Welcome back, everyone! I saw the quote above on Twitter and thought it worth sharing as we enter a new calendar year. I started writing this last week, intending to publish on Monday and here we are on Friday.
This has been a challenging week with national and local news at the forefront. It's hard to focus with violence at our capital and the change in power taking place nationally and locally. As leaders, we need to hold steady on the job we have, which is to show strength and calm (even though you may not feel it inside) and remain as focused as possible on teaching and learning. It's challenging to hold back the unknown so you can focus on your locus of control. It's that time of year when we are planning for next year, doing evaluations, and running the day to day, which is no longer predictable during a pandemic. When things are harried, I feel better when I zoom out to my purpose as reflected in Chad Boseman's quote above.
Pre-probable orgs went well, and budget collabs are going well. Thank you for all of your preparation - it really shows in how smoothly things have gone so far.
Focus on Early Literacy
Another Twitter tidbit came from DESE @MASchoolsK-12 Office of Literacy and Humanities newsletter announcing a series of four, 45-minute webinars listed below. I also explored their early literacy guide here.
January 7 Dr. Nadine Gaab (Dyslexia/Reading Screening)
January 13 Emily Hanford (Author of What the Words Say)
January 27 Dr. Mariela Paez (Dual Language)
February 3 Dr. Sonia Cabell (Early Literacy & Intervention)
Register here for any or all of the webinars.
Important Dates
January 13 - School Committee Meeting @ 5p
January 18 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
February 15 - President’s Day - No School
February 16-19 - Winter Recess - No School
Office of the Superintendent
Housing Stability & Assistance in the City of Boston
The link above provides access to a folder with letters to families in our ten primary home languages regarding the January 31, 2021 expiration of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) federal eviction moratorium. The City of Boston Rental Relief Fund is available and accepting applications for residents who need assistance.
Talking Points for BPS Staff regarding the Housing Stability & Assistance in the City of Boston
Letter to Families From the Superintendent Regarding Violence in DC on January 6, 2021
School Building Access
No additional students beyond those approved by BPHC should be in buildings right now. If a School Leader wishes to have students return for an assessment or other event, s/he must receive approval first via working with staff in the Superintendent’s Office. It is vital that all School Leaders adhere to this expectation.
Division of Academics
Teacher Leadership Fund Midyear Grants
The Teacher Leadership Fund is happy to announce a new midyear grant opportunity for this year only. We know that now more than ever educators are innovating and creating to address the immense challenges that our students and schools are facing, especially those that have been created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants of up to $5000 will be awarded to teams of educators. Applications will be reviewed on a monthly basis. The initial deadline is December 15th. For more information, please click here.
OSE Partnership with Catapult Learning: Teachers & Related Service Staff Needed
The Office of Special Education (OSE) is excited to announce that we are partnering with Catapult Learning (Catapult) to support the delivery of Compensatory services to SWD’s as a result of the COVID-19 closures. These services will include math, reading, rules-based reading, counseling, and a subset of related services. BPS will offer these services outside of the school day and during school vacations. We know that the best teachers work in BPS, and we are asking for your support with getting teachers to apply to Catapult to provide these services to our students. Please see the attached memo for more information. Please share with Teachers or Related Service Providers who you think may be interested.
Contact Porsche Paulding for additional information.
Boston Citywide/Region VI Science Fair
On Wednesday-Friday, March 3rd - 5th, 2021, Boston Public Schools will conduct the 75th annual BPS Citywide/Massachusetts State Region VI Science Fair. This year the event will be hosted virtually. We know the Science Fair provides an opportunity for our students to demonstrate and celebrate their accomplishments in the fields of science and engineering. Thus, your support of this event is essential. More information can be found in this memo.
Reminder: Summer Learning Academy Funding Opportunity
For school leaders interested in receiving funding to run a summer program, the Office of Expanded Learning Opportunities invites interested schools to apply for funding through the 5th Quarter Portfolio Application. The deadline to complete the application is January 11, 2021 at 5PM. You can preview the full application here before submitting answers through the Google form. For questions, contact summerlearning@bostonpublicschools.org for more information or use this link for office hours to receive additional support.Division of Accountability
Transformation Strategy Update - January 8th
REMINDER: DESE CD Modified Process December Iteration - January 8th Deadline
The school's review of high school students eligible for the December CD Modified process is due today, Friday - January 8th. Link to District CD Modified Process Iteration 3 12.18.20
Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL)
The Office of Leadership Development is seeking feedback from BPS educators who either have completed their Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) or desire to complete the PAL within the next few years. Please fill out the linked survey to provide your reflections and suggestions relative to your experiences completing (or perhaps not completing) the PALs. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes of your time and will remain open until January 31, 2020. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences as we work to develop a new program for PAL support in BPS.
MAP Winter Testing Begins on Monday, January 11th!
The winter testing window for MAP Growth and MAP Fluency opens Monday, 1/11/2021, and closes on Friday, 1/29/2021. Some exciting updates have been made to improve the testing experience and to address the remote testing pain-points from last Fall. The latest updates and other announcements can be found here. Please reach out to Dana Pulda-Acone with any questions.
Panorama Support Notes
An Export of Panorama Support Notes is now available in your school data folder. Steps to access can be found in the linked document.
School Display Names Updated on December 28th in All Major BPS Systems
During the week of 12/28/2020, the Offices of Data And Accountability and BPSTech updated the Display Names for all schools to be consistent with the Display Names - used in the SY20-21 BPS School Directory spreadsheet. If you see any errors in BPS systems (including Aspen, Panorama, SNAP, etc.), please contact Elena Lanin (elanin@bostonpublicschools.org).
Office of Leadership Development
Please join us or share with others who may be interested in joining us at a School Leadership Information Session on Wednesday, January 13th at 5:30p. Please register and find information about future dates here.
Do you know someone who is interested in school leadership? Do you see promise in someone with whom you work? Would you like to learn more about leadership yourself? Please fill out this referral form for folks interested in our pipeline programs or building level leadership.
If you or someone you know is interested in applying to be a Principal or Head of School, the School Leader Job Application is live now!
The Office of Leadership Development would like to recognize and give thanks to SY20-21 Mentors: Efrain Toledano, Nora Vernazza, Leslie Gant, Leah Blake, Renee McCall, Jason Gallagher, Karen McCarthy, Christine Copeland, and Kathleen Sullivan! We are grateful for their leadership and support of first and second year leaders! See our mentors featured on our website and learn more about them and their schools!
Thank you to the Second Year Leader Cohort for supporting their peers in problem-solving groups via the Second Year Leader Induction Problem of Practice Groups.
We are looking forward to First Year Leader Cohort Professional Learning on January 20th with a focus on Literacy and support in operational functions. To learn more about our induction programming for first and second year leaders, take a look at our website here.
Family Coffee Hours
The Behavioral Health Services team will be hosting Family Coffee Hours on January 11, 2021 from 4p to 5p. The focus will be on Transition Back to School from Winter Break. Please share with your families.
Division of Equity, Strategy, & Opportunity Gaps
Diversity Programs & Retention Services
Executive Coaching Leadership Programs for Male and Women Educators
RCD offers both a Male Educators of Color (MEOC) Executive Coaching Leadership Program and a Women Educators of Color (WEOC) Executive Coaching Leadership Program. Each is a 9-month program designed to increase engagement, retention and leadership rates for the male staff of color or female staff of color within Boston Public Schools. Each program session is led and facilitated respectively by current and former male or female leaders of color from the Boston Public Schools. Participants will receive a valuable combination of executive coaching, research-based content as well as a natural balance between self-reflection and peer interactions. The programs will guide participants to focus on key levers of effective educational leadership and also support the development of innovative, research-based solutions to key problems of practice. This is an excellent professional development opportunity to support future leaders in your schools. Deadline has been extended until January 15, 2021
- Apply here: Male Educators of Color (MEOC) Executive Coaching Leadership Program - SY20-21 For more details, click here.
- Apply here: Women Educators of Color (WEOC) Executive Coaching Leadership Program - SY20-21 For more details, click here.
Division of Finance
Budget Collab season is upon us! In advance of your budget collab, the Budget team asks that you do the following:
- By Jan 11: Complete Future Force to the best of your ability, using the FY22 Budget Checklist as a guide
- Email your Financial Analyst once you have completed V1 of Future Force
- If you are able to balance, please submit by January 11th, or in advance of your budget collab
- If you are not able to balance, email your Financial Analyst to let them know that it is ready to be submitted and we will submit manually in advance of your budget collab
- Schools interested in requesting a waiver for their social worker investment should complete this waiver request form at least 48 hours before their Budget Collab.
- In order to support you throughout this process and ensure consistency in our responses, we have developed this list of FY22 Budget Season Frequently Asked Questions. The list includes answers to questions about: supplemental supports for schools, Social Worker and Family Liaison investment positions, and more. Don't see your question on this list, let us know here!
Division of Operations
Division of Student, Family, and Community Advancement
Partner Connector Events
The Partnerships Office will be holding a series of "Partner Connector Events" to assist school leaders in learning about partner opportunities on Wednesdays starting January 13th through February 3rd. These events are in lieu of our Annual Partnership Event. This is an opportunity for schools to rethink their partnership strategy, and review options both in person and online partnerships while considering the needs of your school community.
The events will be on Zoom each week and will have 2 focus areas. The events will be broken down by grade level to ensure school leaders meet with partners that are a potential match. The full schedule is available on www.PartnerBPS.org and registration is on Eventbrite.
Exam School Eligible Students - Grades 6 & 8
This week we have sent out communication to the families of BPS grade 6 and 8 students that have met the eligibility criteria for exam schools for SY21-22. Students identified as eligible are not guaranteed an invitation to an exam school; however, all eligible students will be able to rank the three exam schools through the school choice forms. Please note, we are still working to determine the eligibility for a subset of students which may result in additional school choice forms throughout the month of January.
Families will be able to submit their school choice rankings through our online platform or by email to the child's current school or welcomeservices@bostonpublicschools.org.
We have also sent a list of eligible students to each school's school choice contact to ensure that every school has a list of students who are eligible for exam schools.
Tiered Attendance System (TAS) Now Available
Offered as a service from the Department of Opportunity Youth, the Tiered Attendance System (TAS) is a framework that helps schools assess their attendance practices across a range of indicators, while also pinpointing areas for improvement. Schools complete an assessment and then receive results that offer clear focus areas to implement improved attendance practices. This is followed by an optional consultation service or a self-directed implementation process. With a focus on the consistency and effectiveness of attendance practices school-wide, TAS complements the use of Panorama for individual student success planning.
We're now inviting schools to participate in this service, which includes consultative guidance to identify and implement improved attendance practices specific to the needs of individual schools.
To learn more, please explore the help site linked below or contact Brian Marques (bmarques@bostonpublicschools.org) to schedule a demo.
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